Subject: I found an alien Geographic location of the bug: Bradenton, Fl Date: 01/15/2019 Time: 04:38 PM EDT Your letter to the bugman: Hello! I found this fella by my porch steps. He moves fairly quick and had a couple peek-a-boo sections in his body (shown). How you want your letter signed: Curious Bradentuckian

Lappet Moth Caterpiller

Dear Curious Bradentuckian, This is a Lappet Moth Caterpillar, possibly from the genus Tolype which is pictured on BugGuide, or possibly the caterpillar of a Dot Lined White also pictured on BugGuide. BugGuide states: “Larva: excellent twig mimic – body mottled gray and whitish with black markings and fringe of sublateral hairs; displays pair of dark bars between thoracic segments when crawling or disturbed.” This is a native species, not an alien.

Dear Sue, Knowing the plant upon which an insect is found it is often extremely helpful for identification purposes, but not all insects are found on plants, so we don’t have a field for that purpose. Milkweed is not a “Geographic location” and knowing if something was sighted in Pennsylvania or California or South Africa is also quite helpful, and every bug is found somewhere on the planet, which is why we have a Geographic location field on our submission form. Having the Geographic location is also of assistance for persons scouring the internet for identification purposes, so we hope you will write back and provide an actual Geographic location so we don’t have to leave that field blank in our posting. This is a Milkweed Tussock Moth Caterpillar, one of the many species, like the Monarch caterpillar, that depends upon milkweed for survival. We don’t understand what “Thi dc” means since we could not locate it in the dictionary.

Subject: caterpillar with a mohawk Geographic location of the bug: TONASKET WA Date: 07/24/2018 Time: 10:26 AM EDT Your letter to the bugman: We were curious as to who this is. Having grown up in TX, my husband knew all about urticating hairs; hence the stick! Better safe than sorry. It was near fir, pine, sarviceberry, chokecherry, wild roses and currant for the bigger forage plants we have. Other than that, it’s a real dry climate. Thanks. How you want your letter signed: Cathy

Western Tussock Moth Caterpillar

Dear Cathy, Your subject line caught our attention because of the mohawk description. Based on its color and markings and your location, we believe this is a Western Tussock Moth Caterpillar as pictured on BugGuide, but we would not rule out a similar looking relative in the same genus. Handle Tussock Moth Caterpillars with caution. The hairs might cause a skin reaction in sensitive individuals.

Subject: weird catapiller Geographic location of the bug: south eastern Tennessee Date: 05/08/2018 Time: 05:44 PM EDT Your letter to the bugman: hey found this on my leg fishing and never seen it before what is it? thanks How you want your letter signed: Mr Crabtree

Dear N medley, These are Vapourer Moth Eggs, and you can verify our identification by comparing your image to the images on Alamy and Alex Hyde Photography. According to UK Moths: “An unusual species in many ways, the males fly during the day but are often also attracted to light at night. The females are virtually wingless, an attribute normally associated with winter-emerging species, but the adults are out from July to September, sometimes October in the south. The female lays her eggs on what remains of the pupal cocoon, which then overwinter. When hatched, the very hairy caterpillars feed on a range of deciduous trees and shrubs. The species is fairly common, especially in suburban habitats, over much of Britain, but more so in the south.”

Thank you so much! We’ll leave it alone then, but I suppose we may want to move some of the caterpillars off of our little tree! best, Nancy